Lubricating mechanism



April 20, 1937. R. J. GITS LUBRICATING MECHANISM Filed Aug. 15, 1933Patented API" 20: 1937 UNITED STATES www PATENT OFFICE n. 2,077,880Lmsmorvrnvcr MEcHANlsM y Y ."nemidits, Rivzrsaafm. w Applicationnugus'ty15, 1933, serial No. 685,274 3 claims. (c1. eos-1,341)

`v"Ihis invention relates to lubrication mechanism, and, moreparticularly, to automatically operated lubricating devices. l Y One oftheobjects of the invention is the provision of a new and improvedlubricator having novel `means for circulating lubricant supplied toabearing. A

Another object of the invention is the provision ofS-a new and improvedlubricator having means associated with an'upwardly extending shaft forcontinuously 'supplying lubricant to the-bearing ofA said shaft withoutthe use of packingfto preventthe escape of thelubricant. 'l .'/A stillfurther'object of the invention' is the provision of new and improvedmeansfor 1ubricating the bearing of `a vertical rotating shaft.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a new and improvedlubricating device which is simple in' construction, inexpensive-r tomanufacture, eicient in luse and one l,that operates automatically tocontinuously `supply a change of lubricant to the bearing of amovableelement. f l l Other and further objects and advantages of the inventionwill appear from'the following,

parts broken away; and 1' Fig. 2 is a section on the line Y2-2 of Fig.1,.

In lubricating the bearings of Vertical shafts,y

considerable diiiculty has `heretofore been experienced due to the factl'that the lubricant tends to drain downward from the bearing bytheaction of gravity. In order to prevent lossiof lubricant, it is commonpractice to provide packing about the shaft below the bearing, but thisis objectionable for the reason that in order that the packing beoil-proof, it must be compressed so tightly about the shaft as tointerfere to a certain extent with Aits rotation.

The present invention seeks to remedy lthese diicultieswhereby packingis unnecessary and the lubricant is recirculated through the bearing.

Referring now to the drawing, the reference character I0 designates acasing which may be of any suitable mechanism but which, for convenienceof description, will be referred to as a motor casing having the bearingII for one end of the motor or armature shaft I2. This bearing isrigidly attached to the casing, as by making it a press t. The upper endof the shaft I2 may be provided with a pulley 20, as is usual in suchconstructions. The bearing II has an oil receptacle I3 in its upper endfor receiving the excess oil elevated by the shaft I2, as will presentlyappear.

- An oil reservoir III is attached to the shaft I2 in any suitablemanner. The reservoir I4 has an opening I 5 in its lower end throughwhich the shaft I2 extends. A hollow bushing I6 extends downwardlythrough the opening I5 and is threaded on its lower end, the upper endbeing provided with a head I'I which seats on the bottom wall of thereservoir. A nut I8 is adapted to clamp the bushing I6 inv position toform an oiltight joint, The shaft I2 extends axially through thebushingand is rigidly secured to the shaft bya pin I9 which causes thebushing I6, and with it the reservoir I4, to rotate with the shaft.

The reservoir I4 is adapted to contain a lubricant as. oil or the like.The lower end of the bearing II is provided witha transverse opening 2|through which the oil 'from the reservoir passes to the bearing. Inorder to oil the bear-V ing throughout its length, a spiral groove 22 iscut,` in the periphery of the shaft I2 in such a direction that itsrotation will cause the oil to be elevatedalong the bearing and anyexcess will becollected in the receptacle I3 from which it-is returnedto the reservoir I4 through one or more passages'23 extending downwardlyand outwardly to they surface of the bearing II. The bearing II` maybetapered inwardly toward the reservoir so as to provide ample spacebetween the bearing andthe side walls of the reservoir for the oil toi'low downward along the bearing into said reservoir.

Suitable means are provided for directing the oil into the passage ZI. Ascoop or delector 24 is employed for this purpose. This deflector hasits inner end secured in the opening 2|. It is hollow and has an opening25 directed in the oppositedirection from the rotation of the shaftwhereby the oil in the reservoir will be scooped up by the scoop as itrotates with the reservoir and, wil1,be deflected onto the rotatingshaft through the opening 2|. The rotation of the shaft in turn willcause the oil to be elevated by the spiral groove due to the frictionalresistance between the oil and bearing.

Appropriate means are provided for preventing the oil contained in thereservoir I4 from being discharged by centrifugal force from saidreservoir. In the form of construction shown, a cap member 26 isemployed for this purpose. This cap member is provided with a reducedportion 21 for engaging in an internal rabbet 28 in the upper end of thereservoir I4. The cap member 26 may be secured in position in anysuitable manner, such as by a press fit. The lower end of the cap 26 istapered inwardly, as at 29, whereby when the oil is caused bycentrifugal force to flow upwardly along the wall of the reservoir I4,it will be prevented from being discharged from the reservoir by thistapered portion which will direct the oil back into the reservoir. Thecap 26 has an enlarged axial opening 3Il through which the bearing IIextends.y Theopening is larger in diameter than the bearing whereby oilflowing through the passages 23 and along the tapered walls of thebearing II will pass through into the reservoir I4. The opening 3I isflared outwardly at its upper end, as at 30:'k l `f-...zi

If desired, means may be provided for conducting oil to the reservoirfor refillingV the same. In the construction shown, this-means comprisesa pipe 32 having an elbow 33 openingv upwardly attached to the outer endthereof. The inner end of the pipe 32 terminates above'the.,cap 26 andsaid cap isprovided with a bevelled surface 34 for conducting oilfalling thereon from the pipe through the opening 3| into the reservoir.If desired, the` elbow 33 may be provided with a hinged cap or closure35. 4 -1 In the operation of the device, the shaft is rotated in thedirection of `the arrows,- shown on drawing which in turn will carry thereservoir I4 and the oil contained therein. `The Vrotating oil will becaught bythe open end 25 of the oil scoop 24, which will direct the` oilonto the shaft.V The oil will be elevated by the spiral 22 for.:oilingthe` bearingand-the surplus will collect-in the receptacle I3. From there-` ceptacle I3 the oil is returned'to the reservoir I4 by flowingdownwardly through the passages 23 onto the tapered surface of thebearing 'II and through the passage `or opening. 3'I.y It will thus beseen that means are provided for efficiently lubricating anupstanding'bearing without the necessity ,of employing packingztoprevent, the loss of lubricant. .Furthermorait is only necessary tosupply the lubricant at long intervals of time since none ofthelubricant is lost and the vsame is continuously recirculated along theshaft and bearing. When the lubricant becomes contaminated; it isremoved and a fresh supply providedby pouring same intothefreservoir orthe lubricant mayY bepoured gradually into the receptacle. Y It isthought from the foregoing taken in connection vwith the'accompanyingdrawingl that the construction and operation of my device will beapparent to those skilled in the art and that changes in size, shape,proportion and details of construction may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the appended claims; I claim as myinvention: 1. In combination, a rotatable shaft member, an upstandingelongated bearing member vfor said shaft member, one of said membershaving-Va' reservoir attached thereto andextending over the lowerportion only of said bearing, the other member having an oil scoopattached thereto within said reservoir and extending outwardly beyondthe periphery of the bearing, one of said members having a helicalgroove extending upwardly from said scoop and in communicationtherewith, said groove being located between said members and extendingupwardly in a direction to cause oil brought in contact with said scoopby the relative rotation of said scoop and reservoir to travelupwardlyalong said grooveA during the normal operation of said shaft and apassage for conducting the oil discharged from said groove downwardlyalong the exterior of said bearing member toward said reservoir, aninwardly and Atlowriwa'rdly.ftapering annular cap for the reservoirsurrounding and being spaced from the bearing member, whereby oil forcedupwardly in the reseryoirqwillbe'deflected downwardly and oil Kflowingdown the outer surface of the bearing Y'inernbertmay freely enter thereservoir.

andfhaving'an opening in its side wall directed opposite tothe directionof rotation of said shaft for collecting oil from saidreservoir andconducting the same to said bearing, said shaft having ahelicalfgrooveextending about the same and 7 ascending-inthe direction opposite to therotation f of .the shaft duringits normal operation for conducting oilupwardly along said shaft from said reservoirrthrough said bearing intosaid receptacleandfpassages for conducting oil from said receptacletothe exterior of said bearing Wherel by the ,same'will flow downwardlyalong the same intozsaid reservoir. Y

3. In combination, a rotatable shaft, 'an upstandingpf-'bearing for saidshaft, said bearing having :a continuous, smooth inner surface andhaving a reduced-intermediate portion, a reservoir secured to said shaftbelow said bearing and exten-dingnupwardly around i the lower endj oftheisame', acap-securedtdthe 4upper portion of said reservoir andsurrounding the said reduced portionzfand". spaced therefrom, said caphaving azfdownwardly' and inwardly tapered portion, meansffincludingfascoop for delivering. oil to said-.shaft adjacent to the lower portionvof said reservoir; means including a helical passage ex-J @-1

